History through the eyes of a chicken - Chris A. Kniesly

翻译人员: Ruilin Yao 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

The annals of Ancient Egyptian king Thutmose III

古埃及国王图特摩斯三世的纪录里

described a marvelous foreign bird that

记载着一只“每天都生育”的

“gives birth daily.”

奇妙的外来鸟。

Zoroastrians viewed them as spirits

祆教视它们为

whose cries told of the cosmic struggle

呐喊着宇宙在黑暗与光明之间的

between darkness and light.

困扰的灵魂。

Romans brought them on their military campaigns

罗马人在战场上用它们

to foretell the success of future battles.

来预测未来战事的胜算。

And today, this bird still occupies an important,

而如今，这类鸟依然非常重要，

though much less honorable position

虽然不再那么光彩地，

– on our dinner plates.

出现在我们的餐桌上。

The modern chicken is descended primarily from the Red Junglefowl,

现代的鸡主要源自于红原鸡，

and partially from three other closely related species,

部分源自于3个有密切关联的种类，

all native to India and Southeast Asia.

它们全都源于印度和东南亚。

The region’s bamboo plants produce

这个地带的竹子

massive amounts of fruit

每十几年

just once every few decades.

才生产大量的果实。

Junglefowls’ ability to lay eggs daily

红原鸡每天都能下蛋的本领

may have evolved to take advantage of these rare feasts,

可能已经演变为利用这些罕见的盛宴，

increasing their population when food was abundant.

在食物充足时增加它们的数量。

This was something humans could exploit

这是人们一贯会

on a consistent basis,

利用的一点，

and the birds’ weak flight capabilities

鸟儿衰弱的飞行能力

and limited need for space made them

和对空间有限的需求

easy to capture and contain.

使它们很容易被捉到。

The earliest domesticated chickens,

最早的养的鸡，

dating at least back to 7,000 years ago,

要追溯到至少7000年前，

weren’t bred for food,

它们并不是养来吃的

but for something considered less savory today.

而是被用在非食用的其他方面。

The aggressiveness of breeding males,

饲养的公鸡与生俱来的腿部力量，

armed with natural leg spurs,

这种攻击性，

made cockfighting a popular entertainment.

使斗鸡变成一种很流行的娱乐。

By the second millennium BCE,

但是公元前二世纪，

chickens had spread from the Indus Valley to China

鸡从印度河流域遍布到中国

and the Middle East to occupy royal menageries

和中东，占据了皇家动物园，

and to be used in religious rituals.

也被在宗教仪式上使用。

But it was in Egypt

但是在埃及，

where the next chapter in the bird’s history began.

鸟的历史的下一篇章拉开了序幕。

When a hen naturally incubates eggs,

当一个母鸡自然的孵蛋时，

she will stop laying new ones

她会暂停生一个新蛋

and sit on a “clutch” of 6 or more eggs for 21 days.

而是在六个或多个蛋上坐21天。

By the middle of the 1st millennium BCE,

等到了公元前一世纪中期，

the Egyptians had learned

埃及人学会了

to artificially incubate chicken eggs

通过把他们放在热灰上的篮子里

by placing them in baskets over hot ashes.

来人工孵蛋。

That freed up hens to continue laying daily,

这让母鸡开始有自由每天下蛋，

and what had been a royal delicacy

这才让以前的皇家专供食物

or religious offering

或者宗教供品，

became a common meal.

成为了日常食物。

Around the same time as Egyptians were incubating eggs,

差不多在埃及人孵蛋的同个时间，

Phoenician merchants introduced chickens to Europe,

腓尼基商人把鸡引入到欧洲，

where they quickly became an essential part

在那里，鸡很快成为了

of European livestock.

欧洲家畜的重要组成部分。

However, for a long time,

然而，长时间以来，

the chicken’s revered status continued to exist

鸡被尊敬的地位

alongside its culinary one.

即使变成烹饪食物，也一直存在着。

The Ancient Greeks used fighting roosters

古希腊人用斗鸡

as inspirational examples for young soldiers.

当成对年轻士兵的精神榜样。

The Romans consulted chickens as oracles.

罗马人把鸡当作神谕。

And as late as the 7th Century,

到了七世纪，

the chicken was considered a symbol for Christianity.

鸡被认作是基督教的象征。

Over the next few centuries,

之后的几个世纪，

chickens accompanied humans wherever they went,

有人的地方，就有鸡，

spreading throughout the world through trade,

鸡通过贸易，

conquest,

and colonization.

战争，

殖民统治遍布了世界。

After the Opium Wars,

鸦片战争之后，

Chinese breeds were brought to England

中国鸡被带到了英国

and crossed with local chickens.

和当地的鸡进行了杂交。

This gave rise to a phenomenon called

这引起了一个现象被称作

“Hen Fever”

“鸡热潮”，

or “The Fancy”,

或“幻想”，

with farmers all over Europe

欧洲的农民们

striving to breed new varieties

全都开始养

with particular combinations of traits.

这个有着特别结合特征的新品种。

This trend also caught the attention

这个趋势也带来了达尔文的

of a certain Charles Darwin, who wondered if

一些关注，他好奇

a similar selective breeding process occurred in nature.

这种类似的选择性繁殖过程 在大自然中是否存在。

Darwin would observe hundreds of chickens

达尔文观察了上百只鸡，

while finalizing his historic work

同时也写完了他史诗级的作品，

introducing the theory of Evolution.

介绍了进化的理论。

But the chicken’s greatest contribution to science

但是鸡对科学最大的贡献

was yet to come.

还没到来。

In the early 20th century,

20世纪初期，

a trio of British scientists

三个英国科学家

conducted extensive crossbreeding of chickens,

操作了大量的鸡的杂交，

building on Gregor Mendel’s

完善了孟德尔的

studies of genetic inheritance.

基因遗传学说。

With their high genetic diversity,

鸡有着高遗传多样性，

many distinct traits,

很多不同的特性，

and only 7 months between generations,

每两代中间只有七个月间隔，

chickens were the perfect subject.

这些特点让鸡成为了完美的研究对象。

This work resulted in the famous Punnett Square,

这个研究带来了著名的旁氏表，

used to show the genotypes that would result

是一种用来展示杂交给定组合

from breeding a given pairing.

的基因类型的表。

Since then,

从那以后，

numerous breeding initiatives have made chickens

很多饲养鸡变得

bigger and meatier,

又大又肥，

and allowed them to lay more eggs than ever.

能让它们生更多的鸡蛋。

Meanwhile,

同时，

chicken production has shifted to an industrial, factory-like model,

鸡的生产转变为工业化、 工厂式的模型，

with birds raised in spaces with a footprint

禽类在不超过一张纸大小的地方

no larger than a sheet of paper.

长大。

And while there’s been a shift towards free-range farming

同时，也有向散养农场的转变，

due to animal rights and environmental concerns,

这是出于对动物权利和环境的考虑，

most of the world’s more than 22 billion chickens today

世界上绝大多数，超过220亿的鸡

are factory farmed.

是工厂养的。

From gladiators and gifts to the gods,

从公开表演的决斗者和给上帝的礼物，

to traveling companions and research subjects,

到旅行伴侣和研究对象，

chickens have played many roles over the centuries.

鸡在历史中扮演了重要的角色。

And though they may not have come before the proverbial egg,

尽管它可能比众所周知的蛋出现的更早，

chickens’ fascinating history tells us a great deal about our own.

但鸡的迷人的历史也告诉了 我们关于我们自己的历史。